Political Parties and PoliticsHow do political parties help citizens to have their voices heard in government, and how can they also hinder the government?

The American Two-Party SystemPolitical Party: an

association of individuals with similar political views/interests. The purpose of a political party is to get people elected to offices who share the views of party members.

Since 1854, either a Republican or Democrat has been elected to the Presidency.

Development of US PartiesThe first two parties were

the Federalists and Anti-Federalists.

The Anti-Federalists became the Democratic Republicans and controlled the country until the 1820s.

Andrew Jackson was elected as a Dem-Rep, but angered many members of the party. Followers of Jackson became simply Democrats. Those opposed to Jackson formed a new party called the Whig party.

Parties continued…The Whigs won the

Presidency a few times, but the Democrats retook control of the Presidency. In the 1850s, the Democrats split on the issue of slavery. The anti-slavery Democrats and the Whigs joined together to form the new Republican Party. Since then, the Democrats and Republicans have been the two dominant political parties.

Third Parties Third Parties: we have regularly had more than the two major parties, but no third party has ever one the Presidency; they can have an effect though.

Often, the ideas/views of third parties are adopted by one of the two major parties.

Third parties can also play spoiler in an election. Example: 2000-Al Gore (D) vs. George W. Bush (R) vs. Ralph Nader (Green Party). Nader took votes away from Gore and helped Bush win the election.

Problems for Third Parties: 1. Getting on the ballot. 2. Winner-take-all system. 3. Fundraising.

OFFICIAL SAMPLE BALLOTSeptember 19, 2008FORUNITED STATESSENATE(VOTE FOR ONE)

(Republican Party)Thad Cochran.........................................( )(Democratic Party)Erik R. Fleming......................................( )…………………………………………( )

SPECIAL ELECTIONFORUNITED STATESSENATEFORUNEXPIRED TERM(VOTE FOR ONE)

Ronnie Musgrove...................................( )Roger Wicker .........................................( )…………………………………………( )

FORUNITED STATESHOUSE OFREPRESENTATIVESFirst CongressionalDistrict(VOTE FOR ONE)

(Democratic Party)Travis W. Childers .................................( )(Republican Party)Greg Davis .............................................( )(Independent)Wally Pang.............................................( )(Green)John M. Wages, Jr..................................( )…………………………………………( )

Other Party SystemsMulti-party system:

many more than one party. Often, no single party wins a majority of seats so several parties join together to form a coalition government.

One-party system: only one political party is legally allowed to exist. Citizens vote, but only have one candidate to choose.

Sample Ballot for UK ParliamentVoters choose a partyrather than a specific candidate

Today’s American Political PartiesThe major difference

between the two parties is how much the government should play a role in providing services and affecting the economy.

Democrats want government to provide more services .

Republicans want individuals to provide services for themselves.

Platform: the list of positions/views of a political party. Each specific position is called a plank

Organization of Political PartiesEach party has leadership at the national,

state and local level.- National Level: 1. Main focus is fundraising. 2. Every four years the national party

provides a convention to nominate and announce the party’s candidate for the President.

- State and Local Level: 1. Run primary elections to decide nominee. 2. Grassroots: political ideas and movements

that start at the local level. 3. Registering new voters.

Role of Political PartiesMain job is to nominate

candidates for office.Parties nominate candidates

through primary elections. Closed primary, only

members of the party can vote in the election.

Open primary, any registered voter can vote in the election.

Primary winners can often be decided by a plurality (whoever gets the most votes) rather than a majority (one person wins at least 51%).

Other Party Roles1. Campaign: help candidate

win.2. Inform citizens: parties

call, send mail, and advertise to notify voters of important issues.

3. Link levels of government: members of the same party at different levels of government often work together to get things done.

4. Watchdog: losing party in an election will watch what the winning candidate does in office in order to recognize and point out any mistakes.